Yasuko To Kenji (2008)

A honestly hilarious comedy that touches on the bonds of siblings and love!

Matsuoka Masahiro plays a tough and ill mannered brother, Oki Kenji, who gets flared up at the tiniest issue. Having quit his gangly dealings long ago, he now works as a manga artist to make ends meet.

His greatest concern is his naive and adorable younger sister, Yasuko, played by Tabe Mikako who he is over protective of. To ensure her from going astray in her youthful age, he set harsh disciplinary rules for her such as tight curfews which only gets tighter, and not to keep phone numbers of guys. It is extremely funny to see how Matsuoka Masahiro carries out the character, which is almost entirely similar to seeing a manga character turned human.

Despite the exaggerated acting which I guess is the result of the actors trying to play as close as possible to the actual manga characters, Matsuoka Masahiro is simply amusing and lovable for his extremely hard and egoistic exterior with a soft heart. Much the same could be said for Ryoko Hirosue's role as Tsubaki Erika, the female bike gang leader whose love for Kenji has remained unrequited for many years.

The only issue i find was the repetitive arguing scenes between Kenji and Erika, which I think could be reduced to make some of the scenes less annoying. Also, this series has a clear episodic feeling with every episode resolved by a heroic rescue and fight at some warehouse, which can become quite predictable after a while. But overall, these are not really biting issues and somewhere from the middle of the series, the story takes a turn to reveal Kenji's inner emotions, his softer side when his position as a manga artist is threatened.

After following through to the 4th and 5th episodes, it increases my interest to watch on. As one of the staple gang leader-turned-good comedy, this is surely an entertaining one that would bring plenty of unexpected laughs to its audiences.

*Episodes are available for viewing at Dramacrazy.

Below info taken from DramaWiki

Episodes: 10

Genre: Comedy

Viewership ratings: 13.0 (Kanto)

Broadcast period: 2008-Jul-12 to 2008-Sep-20

Air time: Saturday 21:00

Songs:

• 'Amagasa' by TOKIO
  

Cast

• Matsuoka Masahiro as Oki Kenji
• Hirosue Ryoko as Tsubaki Erika
• Tabe Mikako as Oki Yasuko
  • Yagi Yuki as young Yasuko
• Okura Tadayoshi as Tsubaki Jun
• Yamaguchi Sayaka as Miyazono Kaori
• Uchiyama Shinji as Mosu
• Watabe Gota as Ajidasu
• Higashi Ayu (東亜優) as Aki
• Egashira Yui (江頭由衣) as Chisato
• Kojima Haruna as Shingyoji Hiyoko
• Nishida Natsumi (西田奈津美) as Rumi
• Matsumoto Kana as Ayame
• RIKIYA as Aota
• HIRO as Akagawa
• Shima Daisuke as Shibuya Masaru
• Sakurai Atsuko as Hoshikawa Yukiko

General Synopsis

TOKIO's Masahiro Matsuoka will star in a new NTV drama series called "Yasuko to Kenji." It is based on a comical manga by artist Aruko that was serialized in Bessatsu Margaret between April 2005 and November 2006.

The show focuses on a man named Kenji and his younger sister Yasuko, whose parents died in an accident 10 years earlier. Kenji was once the leader of a gang, but in order to support him and his sister, he began making a living as a shojo mangaka. His character normally wears glasses and appears to be a gentle guy, but he throws off his glasses and reverts to his violent side whenever he tries to protect Yasuko from danger. Part of the story follows Yasuko's romance with an intelligent and good-looking man named Jun Tsubaki. Jun's older sister Erika now runs a flower shop, but Erika was once a leader of a female gang, and she used to be in love with Kenji during those days. --Tokyograph